Marriage (Nikah) in al-Islam

by Se'adat-e-Ebadiyye

To have a nikah means to get married, and talaq means
to divorce. In the book Manahij-ul-ibad, the Islamic nikah is explained
as follows:

This article covers the etiquette of nikah. The information
on marriage sometimes varies because people, times and situations are not
always the same. For this reason, while there are Nass (The Divine laws)
and news (Narratives) encouraging marriage, there are also others favoring
bachelorhood. The times and states of the Ashab al-kiram and Tabi'in demonstrate
that in their time it was best to get married. There were three reasons
for this:

The first reason: During the time of Hadrat Muhammad
Mustafa 'sallallahu alaihi wa sallam', Christianity was prevalent throughout
the world. Since Isa 'alaihissalam' was equipped with spirituality, bachelorhood,
being alone and living a solitary life in seclusion were more appropriate
for the times and conditions of his ummat and for his companions. Priests
were ordering everyone to become monks and to live a solitary life. They
presumed that approaching Allahu ta'ala and being in His way could only
be achieved by living alone and by not getting married. Hadrat Muhammad
Mustafa 'sallallahu alaihi wa sallam' possessed all spiritual and material
realities and superiorities; hence, being alone or being together with
others, being single or getting married are all useful for his Ashab and
for his Ummat. Thus both ways, and the moderate way, which is between these
two, are appropriate for his Ummat. Since priests were ordering everyone
to live like monks and to abstain from marriage, the Prophet Muhammad Mustafa
'sallallahu alaihi wa sallam', in order to terminate this way of life,
prohibited his Ashab (Companions) to live a bachelor life by saying, "Islam
does not contain monkhood." He also said in another hadith, "Getting
married is my sunnat; whoever does not follow my sunnat is not one of my
Ummat." Numerous similar hadiths annihilated the wrong ideas imposed
on the minds of people. Also the thought of "Allahu ta'ala can only
be approached by living like a monk" was removed from the hearts. People
who lived during the first two hundred years, which was the time of the
Ashab al-Kiram and the Tabiin 'radi-Allahu ta'ala 'alaihim ajmain' knew
that these hadiths were said in order to refute the wrong allegations of
priests. When this era was over, different hadith ash-Sharifs were emphasized.
These hadiths informed us that there are good aspects to bachelorhood and
to married life depending on the special situations of those involved.
The Holy Rasul 'Sall Allahu alaihi wa Aalihi wa Sallim' said, "After two hundred years,
the best of you is the one who is hafifulhaz." When he was asked the meaning
of hafifulhaz he said, "The person who has no wife or child."

Great scholars like Bishr al-Hafi, Bayazid al-Bastami and
Abul-Husain Nuri were all bachelors. This hadith al-Sharif reveals the
honor and superiority of these great scholars and those like them who lived
two hundred years after the Hijrat.

The second reason: The Ashab al-Kiram, Tabiin and
Taba al-Tabiin lived in the best of times; thus, their belief (iman), patience
(sabr), asceticism (zuhd), and tawakkul were very strong and valuable.
The following hadith al-Sharif praises them by saying, "The best
of times is my era. Then the time which is next to mine. Then the Muslims
of the era next to them. Following these, lying will become a widespread
practice. (Some) people will bear false witness even without being asked
to do so." The nafs of these great personalities would not attach
themselves to the means which the Shariat disliked, and would not incline
to earn through ways of haram because they increased their tawakkul, zuhd,
and rida (consent) by being close to Rasulullah 'sallallahu alaihi wa sallam',
and by attending his sohbat. However, later generations could not be like
them.

The third reason: Hadrat Muhammad Mustafa 'sallallahu
alaihi wa sallam' knew through the nur (light) of prophethood and through
the correct Firasat (Intuition) that the religion of Islam would be spread
throughout the world by the Ashab al-kiram, Tabiin and Taba al- Tabiin
'radi Allahu ta'ala anhum ajmain.' He encouraged marriage so that those
who would spread the religion of Islam throughout the world, and those
with whom the Islamic religion would be strengthened, would multiply.

For these three reasons, it was necessary to get married
during the time of the Ashab al- kiram, Tabiin and Taba al-Tabiin alaihimurridwan.'
It was also proper to be single for people who came after them; therefore,
when Sufyan al-Sawri 'rahmatullahi alaih' heard the above- mentioned hadith,
he said, "Wallah, it is halal to be single at this time." When they asked
Bishr al-Hafi the reason for his being unmarried, he answered, "I have
such a nafs that, firstly I am trying to divorce it. How can I add another
one to it?"

Today, likelihood of earning through ways of halal has
decreased. It is now very difficult to protect oneself from the harams.
It is neither suitable for the aql (wisdom) nor for the din (religion)
to drag someone else into harams. Nevertheless, if one's lust becomes uncontrollable,
one should try to reduce its intensity by fasting. If one cannot decrease
its strength by fasting then marriage becomes obligatory (fard) for him.
[If one is afraid of being cruel to one's wife, it will be tahrim makruh
for one to get married. Also people who are in danger of being deceived
and led to harams by their nafs when they are among lowly women who do
not cover themselves and who expose their private parts to men, should
get married. It becomes fard (obligatory) for this type of person to find
a chaste Muslim girl and marry her. Youngsters who are not desperate such
as the above-mentioned people for marriage, first should strive hard to
obtain knowledge and good morals. Then they should learn the knowledge
which pertains to the menstruation period of women (Hayz), and the knowledge
which covers the time that is right after the birth of a child (Nifas)
and then they should get married.] The appropriate time for marriage for
a Muslim man is when he learns the Shariat, and when he trains his nafs
on how to obey the Shariat, and when he acquires good moral conduct and
becomes a nice-tempered person, and also, when he improves his wisdom.
After fulfilling all these conditions, he should marry a girl who has manners,
modesty, and good moral conduct, knowledge in religion, and who is obedient
to the Shariat and who covers herself according to the Shariat when she
goes out. One should look for a girl who has chastity and who cares for
her religion. One should not hold wealth or beauty as a prerequisite. One
also should not overlook the chastity and goodness of a woman for the sake
of money or beauty. In a hadith al-Sharif Rasulullah 'sallallahu alaihi
wa sallam' said, "One marries a woman either for her money or for her beauty
or for her religion (her piety). You choose the one who is religious. A
person who marries because of her money will not be able to possess her
money; a person who only marries for her beauty will be deprived of her
beauty." It would be the ideal if one can find a girl who is beautiful
and pious. It is not permissible for a Muslim girl to marry a man who is
a disbeliever. When she intends to marry him, she becomes an apostate.
Therefore, two disbelievers will have been married. They both should become
Muslims and renew their nikah.

Seeing the girl before the nikah is sunnat; also it will
facilitate good relationship between the mates during marriage. One should
search for a saliha (pious) woman who has good manners, who has a noble
ancestry, and who is also fertile. There is a saying which states that
a man should avoid four types of woman:

A divorced woman who lived comfortably with her former husband and now
is longing for those days and recollecting them.

One should not marry a girl with brags about her money, rank or father.

One should not marry a girl who will distribute her husband's property
among her own relatives or acquaintances.

One should avoid marrying to a woman who has the reputation of being immodest
and who would cause scandals.

A hadith ash-Sharif which states, "Do not smell roses
that grow on a dunghills," commands us not to marry a base and
immoral person. [A young man married a girl in Bukhara (a city in central
Asia). The first night the bride asked the groom if he had learned the
knowledge of hayz (menstruation). The young man answered in the negative.
The bride then said, "Allahu ta'ala orders 'Protect yourself and those
under your command from Hell- fire!' How can an ignorant man protect them?"
The young man liked her statement so much that he left his bride to Allahu
ta'ala and departed to study. He studied at Marw for fifteen years. He
also studied under Imam al-Muhammad (rahmat Allahu ta'ala alaih). He then
memorized everything in six years, and came back to his wife as an alim
(scholar). His teacher named him as Abu Hafs al-Kabir rahmat Allahu ta'ala
'alaih.']

A person who desires to get married should perform istihara
several times; then, he should trust himself to Allahu ta'ala and ask His
help to protect him from being interfered with and deceived by his nafs
and by base people. One should strive to perform the nikah in agreement
with the four Madhhabs. For making a valid and correct nikah according
to Shafi'i, Hanbali and Maliki Madhhabs, the first condition is that the
wali of the girl has to give permission to her even if she is beyond the
age of puberty. 'Friend' is the lexical meaning for the word 'wali'. If
it is used in the subject of Aqa'id (belief), it means arif-i billah. If
it is used in the subject of Fiqh then it means a relative who is a man.
According to these three Madhhabs the wali is one's father. If you do not
have a father, then the wali is your father's father, and after that the
wali is your paternal great grandfather. If you do not have paternal fathers,
then your wali is your brother. If you do not have a brother, either, then
the wali is your brother's son, next to whom is his son. If you do not
have any of these, then your wali is your uncle. If you do not have that
one either then the wali is your uncle's son and after that your uncle's
grandson. If you do not have any of these relatives then your wali will
be the judge. [The judge has to be a person who obeys the Shariat and who
leads a life agreeable with the laws of Allahu ta'ala]. The order of being
a wali in matters of marriage is the same as its order in matters of inheritance
after death, but, according to the Shafi'i Madhhab, the son and son's son
cannot be a wali. According to Imam al-Muhammad (Radhi Allahu anhu) and
Hanbali Madhhab, after the paternal fathers the son and then the son's
son will become a wali. According to the Shaikhayn (al-Imam al-A'Azam and
Imam Abu Yusuf, Radhi Allahu Ta'ala Anhuma), the son and the son's son
will become the wali before the paternal fathers. In Hanafi Madhhab the
consent of a wali is not a must-condition for the marriage of a girl who
has exceeded the age of puberty. It is mustahab before the nikah to ask
for the permission of a girl who has passed the age of puberty. The person
to whom she gives her permission becomes her wakil. If the nikah is performed
without her permission, she is free to accept or to reject it. If she rejects
it, the nikah becomes void. A woman can get married either by herself or
by her wakil or by her wali. [In Hanafi Madhhab, orphans who do not have
male walis can get married through their mothers.]

The second condition of nikah: It is necessary in Hanafi
Madhhab to have two Muslim witnesses [even if they are known to be sinners]
while making an offer and acceptance. Two Muslim men or one Muslim man
and two Muslim women who have already reached the age of puberty should
be ready at that moment and they should hear the offer and the acceptance.
In Shafi'i and Hanbali Madhhabs witnesses must be males and they should
not have publicly known sins. In Hanafi Madhhab beside the wakil or the
wali one man and two women can also be witnesses. In Maliki Madhhab a witness
is not necessary but the wali must be present at the nikah and the nikah
must be announced, and acquaintances must be informed about the nikah.

The third condition of nikah: This condition covers the
offer and its acceptance. In other words, there exists a contract of marriage.
In Shafi'i and Hanbali Madhhabs the marriage contract is agreed upon between
two men. One of the two men is the groom or his wakil, and the other one
is the bride's wali or wakil. They make a marriage contract by saying such
words as nikah, husband, and wife or by saying similar words that are used
for this purpose. In these two Madhhabs if the bride is not a virgin, then
her permission also is needed.

It is written in the book Nimat-i Islam: "In Hanafi
Madhhab a woman and a man who are free and beyond the age of puberty can
get married by themselves in the presence of two witnesses. Their nikah
can also be performed in the presence of one of them and by the wakil of
the other party, or by the wakils of both parties. The wakil has to be
a wise Muslim with an ability to distinguish right from wrong but need
not to be a male or be at the age of puberty. When one appoints someone
as one's wakil, one does not need any witnesses. For this, first the wife
gives her proxy (wakalat) for renewing the nikah on her behalf to her husband
by saying, "Whenever you divorce me, I have authorized you as my wakil
to marry me to yourself," and then if the husband accepts her proxy; when
he divorces her with one bain talaq (see the section on talaq) he says
"I have married so an so, (saying the name of his wife), to myself, whom
I divorced earlier," in the presence of two witnesses, his nikah becomes
sahih again. [The famous renewal of the iman and nikah of the whole jamaat
by the recitation of a dua (prayer) by the individuals who make up that
jamaat is based on this fatwa.] When both the person and his wakil are
present during the nikah, the wakil becomes a witness; likewise, when the
bride and her wali are both present at the nikah her wali becomes a witness.
When a father marries his daughter to someone in her absence without informing
her and without a mahr and tells her later on about it, if she stays silent,
the nikah becomes sahih and it is necessary to give her a Mahr al-mithl.
A person can be a wali or wakil of both parties, or one can be a wali for
one party and a wakil for the other party, or one can take one's own place
(as one of the parties) and also can be the wali or wakil of the other
party. If a person who has appointed someone as a wakil says that his/her
wakil is free to do anything and everything on his/her behalf then the
wakil can appoint someone else as the wakil. A child who has not reached
the age of puberty can be married by his/her closest wali. The wali for
the child is his/her asabas (relatives in accordance with the earlier-mentioned
sequence). If there is no asaba then the mother will become the wali. If
someone who is not a wakil [for example, one of the walis of a boy or a
girl who is at the age of puberty, or a stranger] marries him/her to someone
whom they do not know and tells him/her later on, if he/she does not refuse
it when he/she hears it, then the nikah becomes sahih. When the child reaches
the age of puberty, he/she can refuse the nikah which was performed by
his/her wali other than his/her father and father's father.

In Hanafi Madhhab it is not a must-condition to say the
words "tazwij or nikah" as the nikah is performed. A nikah will also become
sahih by such expressions as: "I have given you as a present or gift,"
"I have given you," "I have given you as a charity," "I have sold," "I
have bought." If both parties use these types of expressions, then they
have to use the perfect tense of the verbs, (that is, the tense that shows
that the action has been done). If one party says it in the imperative
form and the other party uses the perfect tense, the nikah will also be
sahih. A wali can marry a small girl who is under the age of puberty to
her kufw (her equal in rank or social status). In the other three Madhhabs
only the father can give in marriage his daughter who is a virgin and over
the age of puberty. She does not have to be under the age of puberty for
being given in marriage by her father.

It is written in the book Mizan al-Kubra: "In Shafi'i
and Hanbali Madhhabs the wali has to be present during the nikah; otherwise,
the nikah will not be sahih. A woman cannot be a wali. In Hanafi Madhhab,
a woman can get married without a wali and can appoint someone her deputy,
yet if a woman marries someone who is not her kufw, her wali can interfere
and stop the marriage. In Maliki Madhhab, if a woman is one of the notables
of the town and is rich, then her wali has to be present at the nikah.
If a woman is not one of the notables of the town and is not rich, then
she can get married through her wakil. In Shafi'i and Hanbali Madhhabs
a fasiq (sinner) cannot be a wali but in Hanafi and Maliki Madhhabs a fasiq
also can be a wali. In Shafi'i Madhhab if a closer wali is a safari distance
(around 108 km), then a farther wali can give her in marriage. [A farther
wali is one who is later in the sequence of being a wali.] In the other
three Madhhabs a farther wali cannot give her in marriage. In Hanafi and
Maliki Madhhabs if nobody knows the whereabouts of the closer wali, then
her brother can give her in marriage to someone, but in Shafi'i Madhhab
he cannot give her in marriage. In Shafi'i Madhhab the father and the father's
father can force her to marry a choice of theirs. In the Maliki and Hanbali
Madhhabs only her father can marry her to someone of his own choice, but
not by force. In Hanafi Madhhab a girl who is above the age of puberty
cannot be given in marriage by anyone without her consent. In the other
three Madhhabs a girl who is under the age of puberty cannot be given in
marriage by anyone except her father. In Hanafi all asabas (paternal relatives)
can give her in marriage but she can refuse the marriage when she reaches
the age of puberty. In Hanafi and Maliki Madhhabs her wali can marry her
to himself. In the Hanbali Madhhab a wali can marry her to himself through
his wakil. In Shafi'i Madhhab he cannot even marry her through his wakil.
In the three Madhhabs, when a woman and her walis permit, she can marry
someone other than her kufw, but in Hanbali Madhhab she cannot marry someone
other than her kufw. In Shafi'i and Maliki Madhhabs a wali cannot marry
her to someone who is not her kufw with his own desire. In Hanafi Madhhab
he can do that.

In Shafi'i Madhhab kufw is a must-condition in lineage,
crafts, religion, flawlessness, and freedom. In Maliki Madhhab kufw is
necessary only in religion. In Hanafi Madhhab, kufw applies to religion,
lineage and property. In all the (four) Madhhabs, the first condition is
for the man to be a Muslim and the woman not to be a polytheist. In Hanafi
Madhhab a woman who is married to someone who is not her kufw can be separated
by her walis. In the other three Madhhabs, if her walis do not give her
permission, the nikah will not be sahih anyway. In the Maliki Madhhab a
woman who wants to get married to someone of her kufw with a mahr which
is less than the mahr al-mithl can be stopped by her walis. According to
the other imams her walis cannot stop her from such a marriage. In the
three Madhhabs, a nikah which is performed by a farther wali in the presence
of a closer wali will not be sahih, but in Maliki Madhhab only the nikah
of a virgin girl which is performed by a farther wali in the presence of
her father will not be sahih.

If a man states that "So and so (name of the woman)
is my wife" and she confirms him their marriage will be valid according
to three Madhhabs. In the Maliki Madhhab, however, their nikah will not
be valid.

In three Madhhabs, a nikah performed without witnesses
will not be sahih. If it is done in the presence of witnesses it is permissible
to keep it a secret. In Maliki Madhhab, the nikah will be sahih, but it
has to be announced among the acquaintances. In the Shafi'i and Hanbali
Madhhabs, the two witnesses (who are necessary for the nikah) have to be
known by the community as men of integrity. In the Hanafi Madhhab, the
nikah will be sahih also through the testimony of one man and two fasiq
(sinful) women. In (the other) three Madhhabs, when a Muslim man marries
a zimmi woman, the two witnesses have to be Muslims. In the Hanafi Madhhab
the two witnesses can be zimmis. Conversation between the parties is a
sunnat during the nikah. In Shafi'i and Hanbali Madhhabs it is a must-
condition to say the word 'Tazwij' or 'Nikah.' In Hanafi Madhhab a nikah
will be sahih by saying any kinds of words expressing possession. This
matter in Maliki Madhhab is similar to that in Hanafi, but the mahr has
to be mentioned.

If one says, "I have married my daughter to so
and so (name of the person)" and that person hears this statement and
says that he has accepted the nikah, according to all 'alims (scholars),
the nikah will not be sahih. According to Abu Yusuf (rahmat Allahu ta'ala
'alaih), it will be sahih.

In Shafi'i Madhhab if one says, "I have married my
daughter to you," and that man says, "I have accepted it," the nikah will
not be sahih. He has to say, "I have accepted her nikah," or "her tazwij,",
but according to Hanafi, Hanbali and other criteria in the Shafi'i (rahmat
Allahi 'alaih), the nikah will be sahih.

Imams (rahmat Allahu ta'ala 'alaihim ajmain) of three Madhhabs
said that it would be jaiz (permissible) to marry a disbelieving woman
with a holy book by accepting her from her wali, but in Hanbali Madhhab
it is not jaiz. When a man marries a woman on condition that he will not
marry another woman besides her, or that he will not take her somewhere
else in the future, according to the three Madhhabs his nikah will be sahih
and it is not necessary for him to keep his promise, yet in this case he
will have to pay her the mahr al-mithl. Imam-i Ahmad ibn-i-Hanbal 'rahmat-Allahi
ta'ala alaih' said that "The man will have to keep his promise; if the
man does not keep his promise, the woman can dissolve the marriage."

When a father wants to get married, it is not obligatory
for his son to marry him, (that is, to help him marry a woman), in Hanafi
and Maliki Madhhabs. [It is advisable to help one's father get married.]
In Shafi'i and Hanbali Madhhabs, the son has to marry his father, (that
is, to help him get married).

In the Hanafi Madhhab, a woman can dissolve the marriage
if the man is incapable of the sexual act. In the other three Madhhabs,
she can dissolve the marriage if the man has any kind of deficiency. If
these deficiencies occur after the nikah, she can still dissolve the marriage.
If there is a deficiency in the woman, according to Hanbali and one fatwa
in Shafi'i, the man can dissolve the marriage; according to Maliki and
another fatwa in Shafi'i, he cannot dissolve the marriage." Translation
from the book Mizan al-Kubra ends here. Khusumat means to
file a complaint against someone. A woman who does not have any defect
can apply to the court to dissolve the marriage if she finds out that her
husband is innin, even if a long time passes after their marriage. If the
man denies it, the judge sends the woman to an obstetrician's to be examined.
If the doctor says that the woman is virginal, one year later that examination
is performed again. If she is found out to be virginal again the judge
separates them. In this state of separation the exact mahr and iddat are
obligatory. Though the woman will lose her right of khusumat after one
sexual intercourse, it is sinful not to have any more sexual intercourse.
Innin is a man who is incapable of having sexual intercourse because of
old age, or having trouble with his genital organ or magic. They cannot
apply to the court to dissolve the marriage for any other reason. It is
written in the book Ibn al-Abidin and in the fatwas of Haniyya, Tatarhaniyya
and Abullays that a nikah is not sahih if it is made dependent on a condition
to be fulfilled beforehand. A good example for this is to say, "I have
married you provided that my father gives his consent." It is written in
the book Ibni 'Abidin, at the end of the chapter of "Muharramat" that,
if she says, "I have married you if my father consents to it," and if her
father is present there and says that he has consented to it, then that
nikah will become sahih. Another example of a conditional case is explained
in the books Ibni Abidin, Kitab-ul fiqh alal-Madhahib-il arba'a
and Nimat al Islam. While explaining the performance of a nikah,
the authors of these books said that if a woman says to a man, "I am getting
married to you on condition that I will be able to divorce you whenever
I choose to," and if the man states that he accepts her condition; then,
the nikah will be sahih and she will also hold the right to divorce him."
If a woman who does not have a husband or a mahram wants to go on a long
journey, such as on Hajj, or if Hulla has become necessary she can get
married to someone by the above-explained conditional manner. It is seen
from these examples that Islam's criticizers who say that in Islam only
men hold the right to divorce or who say that women are like playthings
in the hands of men are quite wrong. They do not know anything about Islam.
These liars and slanderers with their false criticisms and allegations
are estranging youngsters from Islam. The quotation given above shows clearly
that a man can transfer the right to divorce to his wife at the time of
the marriage contract, and as a consequence of this, she can get a divorce
whenever she desires. look up the word "Tafwid" at the end of the chapter
about Talaq for further information.

During the contract of marriage, if one offers a fasid
(unacceptable, wrong) condition to be satisfied, the nikah will be sahih,
but the condition will not be carried out. For example, if one says, "I
have married you on condition of not giving a mahr to you," the nikah will
be sahih, but the condition will be invalid and it will be necessary to
give her mahr al-mithl.

MAHR

Kitab-ul fiqh alal-madhahib-il arba'a states, "The
mahr comprises things like gold, silver, banknotes, or any kind of property
or any kind of benefit that is given by a man who wants to get married
to the prospective bride. There are two types of mahr. Paying the first
type of mahr becomes wajib immediately after the nikah is performed and
half or all of it is liable to lapse. This type of mahr is termed mahr-i
muajjal. The amount of the second type of mahr is determined while performing
the nikah, but it will be wajib to pay after one of the three things happens,
and it is not abatable. This type of mahr is called mahr-i muajjal. If
neither type of mahr is specified during the nikah, the mahr-i mithl has
to be given later on. If one's wife does something which causes a separation
such as being a renegade, or causing Hurmat-i musahara, the man never pays
any amount of the mahr-i muajjal. But, if a man divorces his wife, or if
he does something which causes a separation, the man has to pay half of
the mahr-i muajjal. Three things make giving the mahr-i muajjal wajib.
These three things are having sexual intercourse, being alone together,
and the death of one of the partners. When any one of these three things
occurs, the husband has to pay also the mahr-i muajjal which he hasn't
paid yet, and its amount cannot be decreased. Once a sexual intercourse
has taken place or the wife and husband have stayed alone, the mahr has
to be paid completely when the time determined during the nikah comes,
or in case of separation. If the wife dies, the mahr is paid to her heirs.
If the husband dies, the wife is paid from her husband's inheritance. Being
alone with one's wife, which is legitimate, is different from being alone
with a na-mahram woman. This latter case is haram (forbidden). Being alone
with one's wife is not deemed to have occurred if they are accompanied
by anything that can prevent, either sentimentally, or canonically, or
naturally, their having sexual intercourse. In cases such as when one of
them becomes ill or wears ihram or is performing the namaz or fasting or
if the woman is in a period of menstruation or lochia, or if the couple
is accompanied by a discreet child, the couple are not deemed canonically
to have stayed alone together. The wife is free to give her mahr to her
husband, or if he is dead,, to her husband's heirs as a present. The wife's
father does not have the right to give his daughter's mahr to his son-in-law
as a present." It is written in the book Ibn-i Abidin, "The wife can transfer
her debtor to her husband to be paid with the mahr which she has not been
paid yet. She can donate her mahr to someone else as a present and assign
him as her proxy to take her mahr from her husband. For, the money to be
taken from the debtor can be presented only to the debtor. For presenting
it to someone else, that person must be assigned as proxy to take the money."

It is written in the book "Fatawa-al-hindiyya" that "If
during the process of nikah one only mentions the mahr but does not specify
the amount of the mahr al-muajjal, a portion of the mahr will become the
mahr al-muajjal. This portion will be determined according to the customs
and social status of the woman. If the whole of the mahr is said to be
mahr-i muajjal and a certain date for payment is appointed, when the date
of payment comes the wife cannot refuse to have sexual intercourse with
the intention of enforcing her husband to do the payment soon. If the mahr
will become a mahr-i muajjal one year later, and if the husband sets the
condition during the nikah that he will have sex with her before the payment
of the mahr it will be jaiz to have sex without paying. According to al-Imam-i
Muhammad (rahmat Allahi ta'ala 'alaih), even if he does not set he condition
the case will be the same. If he sets the condition that he will be allowed
to have sex before paying the mahr-i muajjal, it will be jaiz (permissible).
If a portion of the mahr is mahr al-muajjal and the other portion is mahr
al-muajjal, even if the sexual act has been performed with the consent